Empire of Kitara

For the Biito kingdom that claims inheritance of Kitara, see Bunyoro.
Empire of Kitara
Kitara kya Nyamenge (Nyoro)[a]
Approximate extent of Kitara under Wamara per D. H. Apuuli:[1]
  Legendary extent (according to some Banyoro oral traditions)
  Probable extent (according to archaeological evidence)
CapitalPer legends:
Common languagesProto-North Rutara[8][9]: 82 
Ethnic groups
Many ethnicities but the indigenous are Banyoro, Banyankole, Batooro, Basongora, Batagwenda and Bakiga.
Religion
Demonym(s)
  • Munyakitara (pl. Banyakitara)
  • Mukitara (pl. Bakitara)
  • (Kitaran)[10]
GovernmentFederal monarchy
Establishment
• Tembuzi dynasty
  • c. 1000 – c. 1200 (according to C. A. Buchanan)[3]: 116 
  • c. 1000/1100 – c. 1300 (according to J. P. Gorju)[2]: 161 [7]: 7 
• Chwezi dynasty
  • c. 1200 – c. 1400 (according to C. A. Buchanan)[3]: 116 
  • c. 1350 – c. 1400 (according to E. I. Steinhart)[10]: 356 
  • c. 1300 – c. 1500 (according to D. K. Jordan)[11]
  • c. 1300 – c. mid/late 1600s (according to J. P. Gorju)[2]: 161 [7]: 7 
  • c. 1300 – c. 1400 (according to K.W.)[12]: 44–50 [7]: 25 
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Urewe
Bunyoro
Buganda
Busoga
Ankole
Today part ofUganda
A map of various pre-colonial African states from different periods, including Kitara, but with a bias towards West and North Africa.

Kitara[b] (sometimes spelt as Kittara[13] or Kitwara,[14][3] also known as the Chwezi Empire[5]) was a legendary state that covered significant parts of western Uganda and is mentioned in the oral traditions of the Banyoro, Batooro and Banyankole.[15][16][17][18][19]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Apuuli, David Hihumuro (1994). A Thousand Years of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom - The People and the Rulers. Fountain Publishers.
  2. ^ a b c Gorju, Julien P. (1920). Entre le Victoria, I'Albert et I'Edouard: ethnographie de la partie anglaise du vicariat de l'Uganda: origines, histoire, religion, coutumes [Among Victoria, Albert and Edward: ethnography of the English part of the vicariate of Uganda: origins, history, religion, customs] (in French). Rennes: Imprimerie Oberthur [fr].
  3. ^ a b c d e Buchanan, Carole Ann (1974). The Kitara complex: the historical tradition of western Uganda to the 16th century (PDF) (Thesis). Indiana University.
  4. ^ a b c Nyakatura, John W. (1973). Uzoigwe, Godfrey N. (ed.). Anatomy of an African Kingdom: A History of Bunyoro-Kitara (PDF). Translated by Muganwa, Teopista (English ed.). New York City, New York, USA: NOK Publishers, Ltd. ISBN 0-88357-025-4.
  5. ^ a b Chrétien, Jean-Pierre (1985). "L'empire des Bacwezi: La construction d'un imaginaire géopolitique" [The Bacwezi empire: The construction of a geopolitical imagination]. Annales. Économies, sociétés, civilisations. 40 (6): 1335–1377. doi:10.3406/ahess.1985.283241. S2CID 126663125. Cite error: The named reference "chretien" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ Beattie, John (1971). The Nyoro State. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198231714.
  7. ^ a b c d Dunbar, Archibald Ranulph (1965-01-01). A History of Bunyoro-Kitara. Oxford University Press.
  8. ^ Schoenbrun, David (1990). Early history in eastern Africa's Great Lakes region: linguistic, ecological, and archaeological approaches. ca. 500 B.C. to ca. A.D. 1000 (PhD thesis). University of California.
  9. ^ Muzale, Henry R. T. (June 1998). A Reconstruction of the Proto-Rutara Tense/Aspect System. University of Newfoundland. ISBN 0-612-36209-4.
  10. ^ a b Steinhart, Edward I. (1981). "Chapter 18: From 'Empire' to State: The Emergence of the Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara: c. 1350-1890". In Claessen, Henri J. M.; Skalník, Peter (eds.). The Study of the State.
  11. ^ Jordan, D. K. (2007-07-13). "Organization & Mystification in an African Kingdom". Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  12. ^ Sykes, J. "The Eclipse at Biharwe". Uganda Journal. 23.
  13. ^ Speke, John Hanning (1864). Journal of the discovery of the source of the Nile. Robarts - University of Toronto. New York : Harper.
  14. ^ Driberg, J. H. (1931). Gala colonists and the lake regions of Africa.
  15. ^ Bernsten, Jan (1998-03-01). "Runyakitara: Uganda's 'New' Language". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 19 (2): 93–107. doi:10.1080/01434639808666345. ISSN 0143-4632.
  16. ^ Tantala, Renee Louis (1989). The Early History of Kitara in Western Uganda: Process Models of Religious and Political Change, Volume 1. University of Wisconsin–Madison.
  17. ^ Balyage, Yona (2000-07-12). "Ethnicity and ethnic conflict in the great lakes region". Bugema University.
  18. ^ Kiwanuka, M. S. M. (1968). "The Empire of Bunyoro Kitara: Myth or Reality?". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 2 (1): 27–48. doi:10.2307/483996. ISSN 0008-3968. JSTOR 483996.
  19. ^ Stokes, Jamie; Gorman, Anthony; Newman, Andrew J. (2009). Encyclopedia of the peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York: Facts On File. pp. 506–509. ISBN 978-0-8160-7158-6.